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| Kate, Anton, Monica and Ava at JOs |
Last weekend (12/3-4-5) was very busy for some of our Marlins swimmers. We had 4 athletes who qualified and attended Junior Olympics in Pleasanton on Friday. Congratulations to Kate Claman, Ava Salmi, Monica Sears and Anton Zahradnik for a good performance at the meet. Worth mentioning that Monica finished 14th in the 100 free and Anton finished 13th in the 200 back.
From Pleasanton, we drove straight to Fort Bragg where we met the rest of the team for a 2 day meet in the brand new indoor complex that made the experience a real pleasure. We were received very well by the host team that was pleased to see us make the effort to attend the event. Yes, it was an effort as it is a 3 hour drive to get there, and the return trip was quite a challenge as we headed back to Marin under some really intense rain that made visibility an issue. That said, everyone agreed, it was so worth it that we are looking forward to going again next year!
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| ..and swimmer's corner. |
The team stayed at a nearby hotel and we managed to spend Saturday evening’s dinner with most of the athletes and their families in one place … not a small feat, thank you Norm for the planning it took to make it happen. We did get a small treat by stumbling out of the restaurant onto the holiday parade down Fort Bragg’s main street. Being used to Bolinas and Woodacre parades, I certainly connected with the small town feel and the random floats but let’s say that it was … different. The highlight (for me at least) was the pigeon who was walking slowly at the end, apparently banned from being part of the actual parade because of its edgy attitude and propensity to do his business in the middle of the street.
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| Float Fort Bragg style! .... sorry no pics of the pigeon. |
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| Parents corner .. |
But let’s get back to why we really drove up north: the swim meet! 23 swimmers participated in the event over the 2 days, not bad for a really far away meet. As a team we did really well, 153 individual events and 7 relays later, we managed to finish 3rd overall with 2 marlins swimmers taking the high point award in their respective age group. Congratulations to Monica Sears and Anton Zahradnik both in the in the 11-12 age group. Since the pool is new, this was the 3rd meet there and therefore the list of pool records got completely updated during the meet and our Marlins swimmers broke 31 pool records over the 2 days. That experience was new for me as well!  |
| Some of the swimmers holding trophy and plaques! |
Although the overall improvement was only 55%, and in some ways quite average for this kind of meet, it does not reflect the smaller victory that almost all the swimmers experienced. 22 swimmers ended up improving at least one of their events. 5 team records were updated as well, Monica Sears broke the 11-12 100 back, Isabella Salmi broke her own record in the 15-16 200 back, Jared Sears broke 2 team records in the 500 free (what a race!) and the 200 IM for the 15-16 age group, and last but not least Tyler Welty broke a very long standing record in the 100 breast for the 13-14 age group. That record belonged to Chris Mai (Coach Chris) who by far had been the fastest breastroker the marlins have had the privilege to call one of their own. Looks like Tyler, who is just getting back in shape and has recently moved to Marin from Ohio with his family, is not done updating our team records in that stroke. Welcome to the team Tyler!
Special thanks to the parents who supported the event and made it such a great experience for their kids. We hope we can be back next year if the meet is offered again. Fort Bragg is a younger team and is struggling with all the challenges that running such a meet imposes, in addition, the city is having difficulties keeping the newly built center open year around. Let’s wish them well and hope things will work out for them.
Happy Holidays,
Marc
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